The Elven Love Snare
by Aeslinn
Summary: What does it take to snare Legolas Greenleaf, Prince of Mirkwood? One idiot of an elven maiden is about to find out along with the help of Merry and Pippin. Legolas speaks to Kahl about his betrothal. Hee-hee-hee... Enjoy!!
1. Prologue

The Elven Love Snare

Prologue:

            She had decided, from the moment she had been rudely awakened by her sister's beautiful singing voice, that today would be the first day of the rest of her uncommonly long life. Today she would perhaps brush her hair differently or wear a color other than pink. Yes, yes she would. And more frilly pieces. She would sing more, and about something other than the green trees of Rivendell. Not about the sea either because, quite honestly, it was just _water_. A new start for a new life.

            Today was going to be the day she fell in love. Even if it meant stalking each and every gorgeous elf in the Las Homely House and that just might take her all day seeing as how all elves were so damn beautiful. She had given it much thought, from getting up to taking the short walk to her wash basin. Those long seconds had been enough to decide it. A change of pace. A new outlook. For once she would not stand in the same room as her sister and be overlooked. She would be the center of attention. She would do things for herself. She would be beautiful and outgoing, as perfect and radiant as an angel.

Yes. She would do all things for herself. Just as soon as her sister brushed her hair for her.

            Peregrin Took awoke late after dawn, feeling wonderfully refreshed. The bed was big and cushiony and the brilliant sunlight behind his closed eyelids was warm on his small figure. It was good to be in Rivendell once more and especially now that it was for a festive occasion. The last time he had been there, there had been that little spat over a golden ring with elven writing.

            As if there weren't enough of those in Rivendell. Even Elrond Halfelven wore one and no one made a fuss over that one. Well, not much of one anyway.

            With a happy yawn he opened his eyes to find himself eye to eye with a large, round dead gaze and a mouth open in dreaded horror. A positively womanly shriek ripped from his mouth and he instantly flailed blindly.

            The dead fish flew into the air, followed by Meriadoc Brandybuck. Pippin pulled his covers around himself in panic, peeking over the edge of the blanket at the intruder.

            "That was dinner," Merry said with a shake of his head, sitting up on the floor. 

            "How long have you been here?" Pippin demanded, watching him as he rose and went for the discarded fish lying on the marble floor several feet away.

            Merry shrugged. "Long enough to know you have underoos that read _'Mum'_" he replied and he plopped down on the side of Pippin's bed, swinging the fish about cheerfully.

            "And to your _grave_ will you take that!" Pippin ordered instantly. He frowned after a moment, lowering the blanket as Merry smiled at him. "You know, it's one thing to play jokes but it's a different matter entirely to play them on _me_," he said succinctly and he shoved the covers aside and rose from the bed.

            *Merry paid him no mind. "We have a busy day ahead of us, Pip," he said, swinging his legs which hung a good foot off the floor. "First we must eat. I fear waiting for you to rise I have already missed two meals and I shan't be doing that again. Then we shall visit with dear Frodo for he seems to be feeling that pain again. Then we will eat some more and afterwards let us bother Gandalf a bit for his fireworks. I'm sure he wouldn't mind us setting some off in here. We _are_ in the middle of a celebration. After lunch we can look about Rivendell a bit more. Elves are such dainty creatures, we will show them the true meaning of a hobbit. I shan't be surprised if a few of them drop _dead_ from the sight of us. Why, we'd be doing them a _favor_, ending their long lives. And then after that-"

            Pippin suddenly cut him off with a hand. Merry looked up and the other hobbit was still, looking about and listening.

            "What is it?"

            The younger hobbit slowly wandered a bit, first toward the door before suddenly changing his mind and heading for the balcony lining the entire south wall of the room. **He looked out the long windows set in the walls and then wound about, passing out through the balcony doorway.

            And now that all was silence, Merry heard it as well. Shouting. Angry feminine shouting that usually resulted in girls rolling across the floor with bunchfuls of tangled hair gripped in the other's hands. Merry sprang from the bed to join Pippin at the balcony and across from them, passed another balcony and looking into an opposite room through its windows, two elven girls entered. One was older by a few decades but both were beautiful, slender and fair. And they fought, holding something between them, tugging and shrieking. Pippin and Merry stared in disbelief as the screams got louder. "I was under the impression that elven maidens were proper and gentle. Even-"

            "Give me the _brush_, you bastard child of a woman!" screeched the older one.

Pippin gasped, a hand flying to his heart as Merry let rip a sudden snort of laughter.

            "It is _my_ brush, you horrid _wench_!" shouted the younger one. And they continued to scream, tugging at the brush violently. The older one seemed stronger but the younger one was downright dirty, scratching and stomping.

            "I think perhaps I'm still asleep…" Pippin whispered faintly and he turned to leave, heading back into the room.

            A sudden cry and gasp sounded in unison and Merry merely watched as the brush flew from both girls' grip, sailing in the air and coming down to crack against the back of Pippin's head.

            "Ow!"

            The brush bounced off the hobbit's head and landed in Merry's hands. He looked down at it before slowly lifting his face and reluctantly peeking at the two elven girls.

            Both faced him from across the gap of the balconies, hands on hips, with the same exact angry expression. Sisters, he decided, as the younger one spoke.

            "Good day, Master Hobbit," she called across in a lilting tone. "Would you be so kind as to send that brush back this way? Aim for my sister. She needs a good thump on the noggin."

            _"Me?!"_

            Merry held onto the brush. "May I inquire as to the nature of your argument, elven maidens?" he asked politely.

            "Nay, good hobbit. T'is nothing but a small…spat," the older one stressed, sending her sister a chilling stare.

            "Spat?" Pippin groaned under his breath, rubbing his head sorely.

            "Why not tell him?" the younger one demanded, turning on her sister. "Tell him how you pull my hair and steal all the attention! Tell him how wonderfully intelligent you are! Oh, but wait! That would require some work on the brain, _wouldn't it?!"_

            "Enough!" the older one shouted. "From now on do your own hair and complain to another! I will not stand for it!" And with that she whirled on her heel and stormed off, slamming the bedroom door behind her.

            The remaining elf bristled. "Miserable twit," she growled, eyes narrowed as she stared off in the direction her sister had taken. After a moment she slowly looked back at the hobbits, seeing them looking right back at her with forced smiles. "What is it?" she demanded acidly. But then with a wave of her hand, "Oh, never mind. The brush if you will!"

            "That's hardly polite," Pippin said, quickly snatching the brush before Merry had a chance to throw it back to her. "I demand an apology for nearly cracking my head in half!"

            The elf glared furiously, dark eyes glistening. "You will not have it," she said simply. "It was no fault of mine and I surely won't apologize for that brainless _ninny_!" she looked over her shoulder before facing them once more angrily. "For once in my life I would like one person to notice _me_ and not her but of course she won't stand for it. How many times must she be betrothed _anyway?"_

            Merry glanced at Pippin who looked right back with a wide-eyed gaze. The poor elf was surely insane, without a doubt.

            "One man! An elf! To notice _me!_ To fall head over heels in love with _me!_ Is that so much to ask?" she glared at them. _"Is it?"_

            Merry shrugged nonchalantly. "Well, with that attitude, yes," he said quite simply. And as she gasped in indignation, "Look at how you're going about it! Yes, elves are attracted to all things beautiful but love hardly works out like that! You must have something to back up a pretty face or you will be overlooked. You won't be beautiful forever."

            She frowned. "Yes, I will."

            Pippin nodded. "Yes, she will," he sighed and he rubbed the back of his head again.

            "All right, so maybe you will," Merry agreed quickly. "But surely you would be poor company. A beautiful face with not an _ounce_ of intelligence! You shouldn't focus on-"

            "I think you just insulted her…" Pippin cut him off and, sure enough, the girl was sputtering, her eyes wide.

            "The brush!" she demanded furiously. "This very moment!"

            Merry glanced at Pippin once more and the other hobbit shrugged wearily, shaking his head. With his own sigh he took hold of the end of the brush and tossed it back toward her. Unfortunately, he miscalculated the distance and as she dove to catch it, it slipped between her fingers and plummeted.

            "Oh, dear…" Pippin groaned.

            The girl whimpered and the three of them leaned over their respective balconies to see where it had fallen.

            Standing two stories below, obviously taking a delightful walk through the gardens of Rivendell, stood a male elf with long blond hair and dark blue eyes. There was a small grimace on his beautiful face and he held the brush in his hand, massaging a sore spot on his head.

            "Legolas, dear friend!" crowed Pippin cheerfully. "Would you be so kind as to toss that brush back up to us?"

            The girl instantly pulled away from the balcony edge as the elf raised his head and she stood horrified that her brush had injured yet another. She sent a wide-eyed look across the balcony to the hobbits.

            "Your…brush?" Legolas asked with far too innocent a look. "Is it not terribly…_pink?_"

            The girl dropped her head into her hands.

            "I never said it was mine," Pippin replied and Merry began to motion across the gap of the balconies to the elven girl standing opposite them.

            The female elf suddenly gestured rather violently, standing away from the edge of the balcony. Merry frowned at her, lips parted to speak, and she made a rude gesture across her neck, signaling his immediate demise if he so much as breathed a word about her.

            "What in the-" Pippin was staring as well, Legolas waiting patiently below for an answer and fiddling with the brightly colored brush.

            "It's mine," Merry stuttered after a moment, and he leaned over the balcony. "Yes. Yes, it is. Mine." And he grimaced at just _how_ pink the brush really was. ***"A gift! A gift it was, from my dear, long gone mum."

            Pippin nearly died on the spot as Legolas frowned delicately up at him from below. "Did you not say to me when you arrived that you had just visited with your mother?" he asked in elegant confusion. 

            "Did I?" Merry asked quickly in a high pitched voice and looking at Pippin frantically.

            "No, no!" Pippin said instantly, staring right back in panic. "Uh, that was me, dear friend! I spoke to you of visiting with my mother!" And forcing a laugh, "Perhaps old age has finally caught up to you?" he suggested weakly.

            Legolas smiled up at them and for a small moment his gaze went passed the hobbits to something behind them. "Perhaps. Or perhaps I'm just seeing things."

            "Hearing things," Merry corrected.

            The elf's smile did not waver as he looked at them once more. "Indeed." And he tossed the brush up easily.

            Pippin caught it, nearly throwing himself off the balcony but when he straightened he held the brush tightly. He forced another smile down at the elf. "Thank you very much, my friend," he said and, trying to feign nonchalance, immediately passed it to Merry. Merry accepted it reluctantly, staring at it as if it were the One Ring, and he quickly smiled as well, motioning with it to show Legolas that he held it.

            Legolas waved at them from below. "I'm off then, good hobbits. Will I be seeing the both of you later tonight?"

            "Yes!" Merry answered quickly. "Yes."

            The elf nodded. "Until tonight, then." And he waved once more and continued on down the path, head lifted to gaze cheerfully at the trees and blossoms of the Rivendell Gardens. 

            The hobbits watched him as he disappeared through the brush and rounded away. Then, together, they looked at the elf maiden who had her hands to her mouth and was jumping excitedly.

            "Legolas?" she asked in what could only be called a high pitched squeak. "Legolas Greenleaf? Of _Mirkwood?_"

            "What in the fires of Moria is _wrong_ with you?" Merry cried, waving the brush at her. "I can't say I _like_ having my manhood questioned!"

            _"Eeeeeeh!"_  she continued shrilly, looking flustered. "And you _know_ him! Why, would you be Frodo Baggins and Samwise Gamgee?"

            The hobbits exchanged a look, eyebrows arched at each other. "Almost as if we hadn't been in the Fellowship t'all…" Merry sighed with a shake of his head.

            "I'm Peregrin Took!" Pippin called to her proudly. "And this here is Meriadoc Brandybuck!"

            The girl blinked, pausing in mid-hop. "Who?"

            The hobbits sighed as one. "Pippin and Merry, if you will," Pippin said in a subdued tone, Merry rolling his eyes.

            The girl suddenly nodded. "Oh, the other hobbits."

            "The other hobbits," Merry murmured in defeat. "Yes, that would be us. And your name, if you please?"

            "Kahelumien," she said quickly. "My name is Kahelumien but you may call me Kahl." And she smiled, her first real smile.

            "Kahl?" Merry looked at Pippin. ****"Isn't that a masculine name?"

            The girl's first real smile immediately vanished.

            "Seems you're not the only one who doesn't like to have their manhood questioned," Pippin said to Merry with a brilliant smile. He thought over the sentence a moment later but Merry was already ignoring him.

            "Will you introduce me to him?" Kahl asked eagerly. "I would forever be in your debt, kind hobbits."

            "And now we're kind hobbits again," Pippin mumbled under his breath.

            "What do we get in exchange?" Merry asked innocently.

            The elf girl looked confused. "My thanks were not enough?"

            "How about some breakfast?" Pippin asked and he rubbed his stomach eagerly. "And over that we can discuss this new…arrangement."

            "Agreed!" The girl said happily. "I'll be over in a moment. Now, my brush, please."

            Merry looked at Pippin, who nodded and shrugged, and being careful not to miscalculate once more, he flung the brush with all his might.

            Kahl shrieked as if she were being bloodily murdered as the brush collided with one of the balcony windows and smashed it loudly. The pieces fell, tinkling to the ground, and all the girl did was stare in horror.

            "Oh…oops…" Merry gulped.

            "We will be waiting for you!" Merry cried and he instantly fled, dragging Merry and leaving the elf maiden standing in numb terror.

            "She wanted it, didn't she?

*      I don't really know if Merry has ever called Pippin just "Pip" but I thought it sounded cute. 

**    Were there windows in Rivendell? Well, I needed there to be so…yeah…

***   I don't know if Merry's mommy is alive or even who she really is. But I am not about to read the Fellowship of the Rings again. It took me years to understand half the things Tokein said the first time around…

****  I don't know if Kahelumien is a masculine name but I know "lumienn" was something like shine, right? Or I could just be guessing…

I think you guys may need to see this from an anime view to appreciate it better (gomen to all non-anime readers) because the expressions are actually just downright ridiculous in anime form. =) 

And yes, I AM asking you to review this if you can, I would very much like some feedback! This is my own fic, independent from The Witch Child, which I'm still sharing with Cass.

Thanks for reading!

-Aeslinn


	2. Chapter One

Chapter One:

            From up close, as well as far off to be truthful, Kahelumien was indeed quite lovely. She had long blond hair that fell to the middle of her back before becoming wavy and she had the large eyes of a doe. At the moment she even had the fearful gaze a doe carried when they were in the way of a carriage intent on plowing them down. 

            Elenuviel was about to be betrothed. Again. Elrond Halfelven, the Elven lord of Rivendell and caretaker to both her and her sister Elenuviel, had chosen yet another elf for her to marry and Elenuviel was getting that strange look in her eye again. The _'One more notch on the Bedpost'_ look that Kahl hated with all her eternally damned soul. She had been summoned immediately after her delightfully exhausting encounter with the hobbits on the balcony and upon entering one of Elrond's many halls, she had noticed that Arwen had returned. Standing beside her was her husband, Elessar. Also known as Aragorn, son of Arathorn. He was a cute one, Kahl reflected, for a Man. Elenuviel was also there, looking the slightest bit smug, her arms crossed over her chest.

            "Can we not have a horrible accident with this one?" Elrond was in the middle of saying to Elenuviel, from where he sat upon a high seat. "He is actually a fine elf and I would rather you be settled before I pass into the Undying Lands so that I may enjoy at least _some_ of my remaining time here." His tone was bored, as if this was not the first time they had held such a conversation, and Kahl knew immediately then what they spoke of. 

            Elenuviel's face was haughty, standing before Elrond and off to the side of Arwen and Aragorn. "You make it seem as if _I _caused all those accidents," she said to him darkly.

            Arwen was looking at her father sympathetically, Aragorn beside her glancing about with the kind of expression that tried to hide the fact that he was searching for the nearest doorway out. Kahl slowly came closer and she smiled at Arwen as the elf noticed her.

            "Kahelumien. You're looking quite lovely," she said in that soft voice of hers. Kahl had half a mind to tell her to speak up but it would have been downright rude. Instead she mouthed a thank you but her sister and Elrond had finally taken notice of her.

            "Ah, Kahelumien, I was just saying to Elenuviel that I have found someone for her to marry," Elrond said to his other ward and he motioned her closer.

            "Yet another, then?" Kahl said innocently. She glared at her sister as she came to stand beside her and Elenuviel, flashing her a _'One word and I'll **eat **you'_ look, stood silent. "Who is it this time?"

            "Absolutely _no one_ of any importance," Elenuviel answered for Elrond. "A visiting elf from Mirkwood." Her jaw clenched and she practically rolled her eyes, shaking her head.

            Kahl promptly blanched, eyes widening with that _'Look out, a carriage!'_ doe expression. "M…Mirkwood?" she asked faintly.

            Elenuviel snapped her head back to look at her. "Yes, Mirkwood! And when have you been one to stutter?" she snarled cattily. She whirled to face Elrond once more. "I shan't have it! He holds no title and even if he is an elf, I have yet to lay eyes on him! I wish for someone I have at least seen!" she cried. 

            Kahl immediately exhaled in relief. That, no doubt, ruled out Legolas, Prince of Mirkwood. She stood innocently now, seemingly interested more than she could possibly ever actually be. 

            "If I am to marry him then at the very least set up an occasion for me to meet with him!" Elenuviel said snootily and without another word she whirled and stormed from the hall, the doors closing silently behind her.

            Kahelumien stared off after her. "I should be quite happy to give her a good beating if you wish it," she said to Elrond.

            Elrond smiled to show he appreciated her humor but he seemed weary as well. "She did not give me the chance to say that her supposed betrothed does indeed carry a title. Now I think it best to change my mind about the candidate…"

            Kahl's heart fell once more into the pit of her stomach. "Who was it?" she asked.

            Aragorn spoke then, straightening. "His name is Legolas Greenleaf, Prince of Mirkwood and son to Thranduil, King of Mirkwood." He shrugged, looking at Arwen at his side. "I thought him to be quite a good choice but it would seem she did not agree."

            Kahl swallowed to hide her panic. "No, not a good choice at all. What if she does not fancy him? One more elven head on her wall and we can't have that-"

            "Kahelumien!" Arwen said in disbelief although a smile tugged at the corners of her lips. 

            "It is true, though I loathe to say it…" Elrond said with a simple sigh. "It would be a most dreaded loss for all elves should Elenuviel not take to Legolas."

            Which was what Kahl feared. Upon seeing the smile on Legolas' face, how could one _not_ take to the elf? She knew Elenuviel would be drawn to him like mud to a hog but Elenuviel quickly tired of many things. Half the time Kahl told her she should just set sail for the Undying Lands before all the elven men were done away with. She had even packed her bags for her on one occasion, as a _joke_, and never in her life had she encountered a banshee, but she that day she had. Elenuviel had screamed the Last Homely House down, and all the elves had fled for fear that a Ringwraith had somehow entered Rivendell. It had taken much of Aragorn's army to coax the elves back to Rivendell and even after all the time that had passed, many elven males avoided the Last Homely House. 

            "Whatever the case," Elrond said after a silent moment, "I will find yet another to her liking." And he looked at Kahl with a small knowing smile. "Perhaps my dearest Kahl would prefer the Prince of Mirkwood?"

            Kahl let out a shriek, hopping up and down and screaming and running about the hall with her arms flung out happily…all in her mind. Outwardly she merely shrugged and asked, "Does he appreciate Rivendell?" she asked.

            She really couldn't have cared less if he did so long as he always smiled.

            "I suppose," Elrond shrugged and he lifted his hand to his chin, resting his head upon it. Vilya rested upon his finger and Kahl gazed at it, wondering how it would look on her hand. She quickly shoved the thought aside, remembering the fateful day she had thought herself incredibly clever for sneaking into Elrond's quarters as he rested in the world of dreams and trying to take the blasted ring off his finger.

            He had sent her to Lothlorien for Galadriel  to deal with her. Galadriel had made her look into her magic mirror of water at all the different ways Elrond could possibly punish her and so, upon her return to Rivendell she had apologized mutely for being a pain in the rump. Elrond had understandably taken her in once more but had clearly kept her far away from Vilya since. 

            Kahl did not have the heart to tell him that she had also tried to take Nenya from Galadriel but Galadriel was a quick one for such an old bag and so she had returned empty-handed.

            Lucky for Frodo Baggins she had been at Lothlorien when he had arrived at Rivendell and when he had arrived at Lothlorien she had been back at Rivendell for a day. She had missed him entirely and, with him, the One Ring. It would have looked very pretty, gleaming around her thumb. Now the chance was gone forever for the Ring had been cast into the Fires of Mount Doom.

            What a waste.

            "Whatever the case, that was why I called you, Kahelumien," Elrond went on. "That and to tell you that my darling Evenstar has returned for the time being."

            Kahl nodded. "Very well then. Welcome back to Rivendell, Arwen. Aragorn, son of Arathorn." She smiled at them both. "If I may be excused I must meet with those delightful hobbits for lunch."

            "Hobbits?" Aragorn asked, cocking his head.

            "Yes, Merry and Pippin were their names. I fear I have left them for far too long." And she turned to leave the hall.

            "Kahelumien-" Aragorn called after her. As she turned to look at him questioningly he said, "The hobbits…are rather mischievous," as if trying to find the best word to describe them without saying _'Idiots'_. Beside him Arwen was nodding solemnly. 

            Kahl smiled again. "I understand," she said. And she looked at Elrond once more. "Which reminds me, one of the windows in my room is broken and I have no idea how that came to be." And without another word, but quite aware of the hopeless sigh Elrond let out, she left the hall to meet with Merry and Pippin.

Wow, I am overwhelmed by the response this story got. When Cass and I started sending out The Witch Child it went completely ignored the first chapter. It got a few for the second and it's been like that since. This was a nice surprise so thanks to all of you for reviewing! Please keep them coming, I would very much appreciate it!

Anyways, this chapter was basically to give a bit of insight into Kahl's background and personality. =) Hope you guys keep liking it!

-Aes


	3. Chapter Two

Chapter Two:

            When Kahl finally arrived to pick up the hobbits they looked as if they had been starving for hours. Which she supposed was true since Merry had not eaten at all yet. However Merry played with a dead fish and so she did not feel much pity for the strange halfling. As she approached them where they sat in the hallway outside their room she noticed that, although it should have been obvious, they were indeed shorter than her. And they were quite adorable, with heads of curly hair and childish faces.

            "There you are! My entire life passed before my eyes!" Merry cried as she came to stand before them. 

            "And what has it taught you?" she asked as they rose to their feet. She eyed the dead fish in his hand with a wrinkled nose and distasteful expression.

            "It teaches _me_," answered Pippin instead, "that we hobbits need more meal times! And that we should keep to the schedule of mealtimes because, quite frankly, I'm famished!" He straightened to his full height beside her and still he did not reach her breast. "Also, we have some news concerning Legolas if you wish to hear it…"

            Kahl nodded and she motioned for them to follow her. "Well, I just had a small talk with Lord Elrond and he gave me a bit of disturbing news himself," she said. 

            "Our mealtimes have been downsized to three a day?" asked Pippin looking positively horrified.

            Kahl spared him a sardonic glare. "Yes, dear hobbit. Now you will starve for your remaining days on Middle Earth…"

            "But…that's so cruel…"

            "No, damn it!" she said crossly. "It appears my dearest sister of the Maniacal Brush is betrothed to my beloved Legolas," she explained. "I haven't the faintest idea what to do and quite frankly I'm afraid of even coming to you for aid…" and she eyed Merry as he swung the fish once more.

            Pippin shrugged. "Well, that problem is easily amended.," he said.

            "Is it? And how, pray tell, so?"

            Merry nodded beside Pippin. "We quite simply do away with her," he said, allowing the fish to hang at his side.

            Kahl slowed. "Do away with her?"

            The hobbits nodded as one, first to each other and then to her. "First," said Pippin, "We kidnap her."

            Kahl's eyes widened.

            Merry followed. "We do away with her in some characteristic, non-bloody way-"

            "We stuff her in a pouch. One large enough to hold her slight frame, of course…"

            "And we toss her off Moonlit Falls!" Merry finished happily. And then he looked thoughtful. "Although we wouldn't want her body floating to the surface so we should also stuff the pouch with large rocks…"

            Pippin glanced at the elven maiden who stood paler than usual with not an ounce of color in her cheeks. "We are fooling with you, of course…"

            "Well don't! I beg of you!" she cried. "I may have some hardships with my sister, a few squabbles, but not enough to send her to her death over Moonlit Falls!"

            At that moment, as they rounded the hallway, there came her sister, looking as lovely as ever, and with a scornful look on her face. She eyed the hobbits distastefully and then her even more so. "Kahelumien, I do so love what you have done to your hair. I did not know you cared so much for the environment…"

            Kahl frowned. "I beg your pardon?" she asked.

            "The bird nest…" Elenuviel motioned thoughtlessly. "Upon your head. Do you need some bird feed or do you have quite enough?"

            Kahl's face slowly darkened and the smile she flashed was pure black malice. "Indeed…" she murmured as she passed by her sister. Behind her trailed the hobbits looking as much out of place as hobbits could in an elven village. 

            With a cheerful smirk Elenuviel continued on.

            Pippin caught up to Kahl and looked at her closely. "Kahl?"

            "Moonlit Falls, you say?" she asked innocently. "Large rocks?"

            Kahl had chosen a wonderfully quiet place to speak concerning the Trapping of Legolas Greenleaf as she had so mildly put it. She also named it The Elven Love Snare, to which Merry had promptly choked on his lunch, Pippin shooting ale from his nose. She thought the name quite delightful even as the hobbits had rolled across the floor merrily with hoots of laughter. Whatever the case, off she led them, leaving the confines of Elrond's home and wandering about Rivendell. In no time at all they had walked deep into the heart of the elven refuge, walking a long path littered on all sides with red and gold trees. The Autumn Path it was named, for all around Autumn was in her prime. Merry had explained along the way some things he had heard concerning Legolas, only naming his informant as "Our Friends".

            "Well, this is quite lovely," he was saying as they stepped out of the trees bordering the Autumn Path and into a clearing. They had stumbled across a waterfall, hidden deep inside Rivendell by brush and trees of all types and colors. The water fell, cascading loudly but peacefully. "I thought you entirely tasteless, my friend, but this is indeed spectacular…"

            Kahl was already glaring at him.

            "A swim after lunch…I would think not…" Pippin was murmuring, patting his belly.

            "No swim," Kahl said and she hiked up the hem of her skirt and stepped up onto a sturdy stone, bordering the deep pool at the foot of the waterfall. "We reach the top of Moonlit Falls and there we will talk, for not many go there."

            Pippin followed with a frown. "Why not?" he asked.

            Kahl hesitated, a sly smile curling her lips although she did not show it to the hobbits. "Because of the Displacer Beast, of course…" she replied. "There's one roaming loose in the forest surrounding the stream above." And she led them without another word.

            At the top of Moonlit Falls they sat and made themselves comfortable along the banks of the stream that fell into the waterfall. Merry and Pippin cast fearful glances into the surrounding forest as Kahl cheerfully hummed nonsense to herself.

There was a maiden, by the name of Elen,

Whose hair was gold and spun of the sun,

She skipped and hopped,

And giggled and flopped,

And thought that life was all just fun.

Then I came along, heart full of song,

My voice gentle and of softness rich.

She sobbed and cried,

But I did not mind,

For not long after I made her my-

            "Erm, about the Trapping Scheme…" Pippin cut her off quickly, still looking about in fright. "Perhaps we can discuss it quickly so as not to linger where we are not wanted?"

            Kahl threw him a bored look. "Really, Pippin, tell me you did not believe my words concerning the Displacer Beast."

            "You mean…there is no Displacer Beast?" he asked with wide eyes.

            "Of course not," she laughed. "I'm sorry if I frightened you but really, the two of you had it coming, taunting me about my Love Snare…" She cast him a sly look.

            Pippin smiled ruefully at her as Merry suddenly jumped to his feet. "I will go into the forest and hunt down the beast for you, Pip!" he said and he flexed some hobbit muscle, grunting.

            "Oh, that will just scare it away," Kahl sighed demurely.

            "Never fear, Pippin, I will return shortly." And off Merry went even as Pippin called after him not to. Kahl merely watched him go, a bored look upon her face.

            "This will just drag out our scheming," she said and she lay down cheerfully, smiling up at the sun.

            A half hour had passed and still Merry had not returned. Kahl found herself wishing she had sunbathed, the fool hobbit was gone so long. She rolled about uselessly, looking for a comfortable spot, Pippin casting worried glances into the forest.

            "Can not you and I discuss the scheme?" asked Kahl impatiently. "Surely when Meriadoc returns he'll jump happily into the plan…"

            "Oh, no," said Pippin absentmindedly. "He is the one who usually comes up with the plans. I'm merely a listener." He frowned at the surrounding forest and then toward the cliff edge.

            Kahl stared at him in bored concentration. "Have you nothing to offer, then?"

            Pippin snapped his head to glare at her, hurt. "Hey there. Just because I don't get into trouble as often as Merry, that doesn't mean I'm such a sweet hobbit. Why, I'll have you know, I've done _tons_ of mischievous things by myself." He puffed up his chest with a nod.

            Kahl smiled a bit darkly. "Have you now? Tons?" she asked. And at another nod from the hobbit, "Name four." 

            Pippin paused, looking suddenly flustered. "Four?" he asked faintly. "All right. Four. I've…stolen some fireworks from Gandalf!" he cried, sounding far too triumphant.

            She arched a brow.

            His face took on the hurt expression once more. "Well, it was quite a blood-racing thrill! I mean, Gandalf! Gandalf the White!"

            A frown suddenly crossed Kahl's face as Pippin continued but her eyes were focused on the forest. Something moved there, low and stealthily. She ignored the hobbit as he hurried on with his excuses, staring with narrowed eyes into the wooded area.

            "Farmer Maggot's vegetables! Why, he hated us!"

            There was a flash of black there and Kahl sat up in one fluid movement, straining to see. Something shifted, long coils floating out and about the creature, and there was a flash of obsidian black. An eye. A feline eye. Kahl's eyes widened as she gasped inwardly, her figure stiffening.

            "And the time in the Prancing Pony! We were running low on money and Merry didn't want to but you know me well enough by now! A hobbit has to eat! So I convinced Merry to do the strip show. The ladies loved him, especially the dwarves, but dwarven women also have beards so for all I knew they were dwarven _men_-"

            "Pippin!" Kahl cried and she reached out, taking hold of his collar and yanking him. "Remember the Displacer Beast I warned you of earlier?"

            He nodded, silent now, and in the other direction of the forest flashed another piece of black.

            Kahl swallowed, staring wide-eyed. "There's two of them…" she whispered.

            Pippin's eyes bulged. _"What?!"_

            The hobbit whirled as they both rose to their feet and from the forest came a low feline growl. Kahl whimpered, backing away a bit and quickly glancing over her shoulder. Moonlit Falls raged loudly only five feet away and with two Displacer Beasts guarding either side of the Falls they wouldn't be able to wind around to safety. 

            "We're trapped…" she said softly.

            Pippin was rigid before her and she took his hand, staring straight ahead into the darkness of the forest. A second growl made them both inch back, Kahl trembling.

            "We'll be dead before we have a chance to scream…" Pippin moaned.

            "Hush, Pippin!" she cried. She didn't need him talking like that. "Oh, I _knew_ I should have taken up archery. But how could I have known when I met you I'd soon after be eaten by a Displacer Beast? It can not _end_ like this!" she whined. And suddenly, almost with a bright smile, "Why, Prince Legolas practices archery! Do you think he would show me how? It would be a _wonderful_ beginning to our relationship-"

            Pippin looked at her in disbelief. "You _are_ an idiot…"

            She frowned at him. "What was that?"

            From the forest came two large black cats, calmly winding out from behind trees, and large rope-like coils of skin had sprung from their shoulders. Kahl stared in plain, cold fear as the large felines looked at them rather hungrily. 

            And from the direct middle of the forest came a stooped old man just as suddenly, dressed entirely in shimmering white robes. He held a staff in his hand and he came out to stand in between the two Displacer Beasts as if he did not even see them.

            "Hello there."

            Pippin threw his hands up in the air just as suddenly. "Gandalf!"

            And by that time Kahl had stumbled backward in her fear. She teetered at the edge of the cliff, the water rushing a long drop below. But she was fine, she just had to steady herself.

            "It's Gandalf, Kahl! We're saved!" Pippin said, still beaming at the old man. And he elbowed her cheerfully, turning then to look at her.

            But by that point Kahl had already gone toppling off the cliff with a squeal, her angered cry echoing all the way down.

            _"Fool of a Took!"_

            When she emerged from the pool at the foot of the waterfall, Merry had finally returned. The Displacer Beasts had been a pretty little illusion conjured by Gandalf the White with the Hideously Black Sense of Humor, at Merry's suggestion. It had been a cute prank played on Kahl for scaring the hobbits with the tale of the Displacer Beast. 

            Merry still rolled with laughter on the ground, foot thumping the dirt as he roared.

            Gandalf was apologizing most profusely as she dripped both water and discontent. The ward of Elrond, soaking wet because of a small joke that somehow was not as humorous anymore, could not be a good thing. Gandalf would be sure to hear all about it from Elrond soon enough, Kahl fumed.

            "Oh Elrond and I are good friends. Why, he played the same trick on poor Arwen when she was but a child," Gandalf mused almost cheerfully. "I daresay that could be the reason why she went and became mortal…"

            "To pay her father back?" Kahl demanded.

            "Always a rebel, that girl."

            "Oh Kahl, look at you," Pippin fused. "Wet and dripping everywhere. You'll catch your death-"

            "I'll have your death if you so much as look at me, hobbit," she hissed in an un-ladylike, un-elven fashion. 

            Merry paused in mid-hiccup.

            "But really," she said, suddenly feigning sweetness once more. "Thank you for a lovely time. Perhaps one day I will return the favor." And she whirled, head held high, to march off.

            "Are you quite angry with us?" asked Pippin, calling after her. "You do know it was an accident! I didn't mean to send you flying off a cliff!"

            She continued walking, dripping and holding her tongue.

            "Legolas…" Gandalf suddenly said. "He will be in the Hall of Fire tonight." He clasped his hands before him, holding the staff horizontally.

            Kahl hesitated, shoulders stiff, and she slowly glared over her shoulder at the wizard. Gandalf nodded solemnly, long white robes gleaming.

            "Tonight. We will arrive together for he was so kind to offer his services. I plan to arrive a little before midnight."

            "Mithrandir," she cut him off quietly, and a truly evil light shone in her eyes. "Is that Narya upon your finger?"

            When Kahl arrived at the Hall of Fire that night she was early. About four hours early but better to safe than sorry. She was dressed in dazzling white and her hair fell loosely down her back. She smiled in greeting to everyone, looking about carefully for Legolas. She would not be surprised if Mithrandir lied to her. He was a strange old man.

            Narya gleamed around her thumb. 

            She had tackled him and tickled him until he had started wheezing. She could not let the old man die however and so once he had started hyperventilating she had stopped. But not before deftly slipping Narya off his finger and onto hers. She doubted the aging wizard even realized it was gone.

            "Are you wearing Narya?" Pippin asked from beside her, his eyes wide with interest.

            She hadn't even realized he was there but upon hearing his voice she decided to ignore him. She was not about to get over her anger with him.

            "Kahl!" He jumped to her attention.

            She looked about nonchalantly, frowning a bit distastefully as she scanned the room. "Is that…a _hobbit_ I hear?" she mused aloud, craning her neck as she looked around. "No, it can't be. They know better than to approach me…"

            He sighed from beside her. "I said I was sorry."

            Without paying him any attention she turned to squeeze through a pair of elves standing not too far off, hoping to mingle and rid herself of the plague that was a hobbit.

            Pippin reached out then, seizing the ring right off her finger. Without so much as a word he whirled and fled, vanishing into the crowd.

            Kahl spun in disbelief, a gasp catching in her throat. The Took had the Ring. The Fool of a Took had the Ring! She instantly went after him, barely keeping sight of him as he squeezed around people, elves and men alike, nimble as a fox. She wound about, murmuring polite apologies and craning to follow him with her eyes but he was damn fast.

            "Merry!" came his voice suddenly to her left and she whirled in time to see him literally fling Narya at his fellow hobbit. Kahl's jaw fell open as she watched the ring fly through the air almost in slow motion, the band shimmering in the firelight of the hearth. It landed cleanly in Merry's palm who merely looked at it for a moment with an expression that slowly turned to disbelief. 

            "Pippin! This is-"

            "Run!" cried Pippin as Kahl whirled on the other hobbit. She dove at him but a figure got in the way and she staggered a bit. Merry, before her, giggled almost maliciously and turned, vanishing into the crowd. 

            "Bloody hobbit!" she growled, looking up to see who had gotten in her way.

            Elenuviel reached out and took hold of her arm, face flushing with color. "What, by the Golden Wood, are you _doing?_ You know very well I can't find a suitable suitor with you running about like a man child!" she hissed icily.

            She shook off her sister, glaring right back. "Oh, be a dear, Elen, and _sit_ on it! I am about to face the wrath of Mithrandir and I would very much rather avoid-"

            "Is that Narya?" someone asked close by and another elf gasped, making Kahl turn in sudden panic.

            A hush had fallen in the room and she realized they all faced in the general direction of the hearth, where the fire raged still. Only, edging closer, she could make out Merry and Pippin conversing quietly and giggling, crouched before the hearth and looking into the flames.

            "Oh, they wouldn't…" Kahl whispered dimly.

            Sure enough, gleaming on a flaming piece of wood, rested Narya. It seemed undamaged, surrounded on all sides by tongues of fire.

            "Merry, look!" cried Pippin suddenly. "It doesn't burn, either! A wonderful 'smith, that Sauron…"

            At that precise moment Kahl decided to jump ship. Women and children first and she was taking the offer. Silently she turned and began to sneak out of the Hall. She was not about to be caught with them and the ring. If she had to she would blame it all on them and good riddance.

            And a second later, just as she reached the doors, in came Mithrandir. Barely suppressing an "Eek!" she quickly stepped aside as the old man entered, attention drawn to the crowd at the hearth.

            "Look, Merry, look! Elven writing!" came Pippin's happy cry.

            Blocking her face with her hand she scooted around and out behind Mithrandir, promptly ramming into yet another guest.

            "Oh! My apologies! I did not see you-" Two hands closed around her shoulders and she looked up into Legolas' surprised face. All color drained from her face and she stood frozen for a small eternity, caught in his grasp.

            "That Fool…of a _Took_!" roared Gandalf suddenly and Kahl came back to herself, looking over her shoulder frantically. 

            Throwing off Legolas' hands with an apologetic, "Forgive me, my Prince!" she fled, not looking back.

            "That girl!" cried Gandalf from behind. "Legolas, that girl!"

            Rounding the far corner of the hallway she heard Legolas reply, "Well, I can't very well shoot her, Mithrandir!" And then she was safely away, racing for the safety of her room.

***Peeks out cautiously from behind a curtain*** Uh…hi. =) Yes, I know it took me forever and yes, Cass DOES know that the next chapter is hers for Witch Child (truthfully, for a little while she just totally forgot altogether it was her turn and then it was just a matter of "I have no time!") so I'm trying to get the two of us back in the swing of things. Thank you to everyone who has left a review in our absence, I did not forget and I do apologize profusely from the bottom of my heart. I'm going to try to write more but class has started up for the both of us which makes it all the more difficult. However I have bits and pieces of chapters written on note paper so I'll try to make full chapters out of them and in the meantime I've also started writing bits and pieces of Witch Child's ending which (while I was having problems before about meeting certain ends) seems to be tying up beautifully in my head. Now I just gotta convince Cass this is the way we want it to go. =)

Anyways, hope you guys still like the story, hope it still holds your attention, and hope you all still decide to review. =)

Arigato.. =)

-Aes


	4. Chapter Three

Chapter Three:

            As it turned out, Kahl heard all about it the next day. The elven writing that had appeared on Narya had actually been a small trap set on the ring. Sure enough, the moment an elf had taken it from the fire in the Hearth, illusions of beasts and orcs had filled the room, taken care of only when Mithrandir had murmured a counter spell coldly.

            Merry and Pippin were receiving a bitter talk about the responsibilities of holding a ring, a chat that had included a former ringbearer, nodding solemnly in the corner. Gandalf was not amused.

            Nor was Elrond who now looked on Kahl with a rather strange gleam in his eye. Twice Kahl had him murmur Galadriel and her water mirror. Things could not bode well with that course of action. 

            "It was nothing, really," Kahl sighed, the hobbits shaking beside her. "Just a small joke. They all had quite a laugh at my expense and quite frankly, I-"

            "Took the ring right off Gandalf's finger…" Elrond murmured. "We know it. And I'm quite disappointed in you. Imagine the horror in the room when it was discovered to be the true ring!" He shook his head. "I am not surprised this house is empty now…"

            Kahl sighed once more, positively bored. She slanted a glance toward Merry and Pippin and they were unnaturally quite. Looking toward Gandalf, she saw Narya back on his finger and she pouted for a moment.

            "Out of my sight, Kahelumien," Elrond commanded. "I have not the strength to deal with you at the moment. Off with you."

            Kahl frowned. "Off with me? And what of the hobbits? This was _hardly_ my fault-"

            _"I_ will deal with them," Gandalf said ominously, and the hobbits shrank in terror. He looked at them with a twitching eye, which made even Kahl a bit wary.

            Turning, Kahl left the hall, wondering when Elrond would deal out punishment.

            Gandalf was torturing the hobbits. Their cries of pain echoed in the hallways, reverberated throughout the house. Kahl did not know Gandalf was such a cruel man. By the sounds of the screams he was worse than Saruman.

            Kahl waited.

            Elenuviel did not return to the room often, which made her all the more fearful. Elrond was planning something big if he was treating her kindly. By the end of this punishment he would probably have talked her into giving up her immortality so as to spare him a few peaceful years on Middle Earth.

            Kahl waited.

            On the third day the hobbits reappeared, looking pale and sickly. They came to her room and knocked politely. And upon seeing their death pallor she asked them what had happened and if they were all right.

            It was for naught.

            "He starved us, Kahl! _Starved!_ We had a measly three meals a day! Three! He would show us food and then take it away! My life flashed before my eyes, over and over again!" Merry cried on the verge of hysterics. 

            Kahl blinked. "Huh," she stated.

            "And then!" Pippin quickly added. "And then! The fireworks-" he whispered painfully.

            "Oh, by the Gods," Kahl growled and she loomed over the hobbits, effectively bringing them up short. "I can't believe you two went off and got yourselves in trouble! What about my plan? What about _my_ needs?"

            The hobbits stared at her, eyes glazing over.

            "Here I was, worried over the both of you and you two are off fooling around!" Her eyes narrowed. "Don't look at me like that! Now, come on, we still have far to go before we rest!"    

            The hobbits blinked at her and then blinked at each other. "But-" Merry began.

            "We're hungry…" Pippin whimpered. 

            "No, you're not," Kahl said flippantly. And she spun on her heel and stormed off. "Let's be off. We've wasted enough time as it is and I'm not getting any younger."

            Pippin looked at Merry once more. "But…food…" he whispered.

            Merry shrugged and went off, following after the elven maiden.

            "We will eat first, won't we?"

            "Trust me," Merry said now and he spoke quickly, looking about warily. "He was out taking a walk. My spies informed me of this." He glanced down the deserted path and from behind a nearby tree Pippin giggled, peering out slowly.

            Kahl found herself seated in the middle of the path, one leg twisted under her. The plan was to pretend she had hurt herself and was waiting for aid. Hopefully a knight in shining armor. Or an elf in a green tunic. "Your spies. So finally you call them by their rightful title."

            No doubt those spies were two more hobbits, one former Ringbearer and his trusting friend.

            "They are as trustworthy as I am, I guarantee," Merry said firmly. And then, "Hey…" as she threw him a sardonic glare. "I'm trustworthy…"

            "Someone's coming!" hissed Pippin and he pulled back behind the tree.

            Merry immediately patted Kahl on the head. "Start moaning!" he instructed and he quickly raced to another tree to hide.

            Kahl straightened herself, fixing her hair and her dress, before clutching her leg. "Oh! My ankle! My ankle! Oh, the pain! It sweeps through my body like a tongue of flames wishing to devour my soul!"

            Pippin snorted with sudden laughter, loud enough to be heard, Merry dropping his head into his hand.

            Perhaps it _was_ a bit melodramatic. She toned it down a bit, instead putting more into the action of clutching her ankle. She massaged it and patted it. And massaged it some more. And a bit more. And when she realized she was still alone she glanced over her shoulder critically. 

            No one came.

            "Someone's coming?" she echoed him in a hiss at Pippin and Merry. "When?!"

            At that moment a figure in white rounded the bend in the path, long blond hair falling down the sides of his face. He paused upon noticing her and quickly came to her in worry. "Dearest Kahelumien! Are you all right? Did you fall-"

            "Keep walking, Glorfindel, I'm waiting for someone," she said in a low voice that came close to sounding threatening.

            The elf blinked at her. "I…beg your pardon?" he asked faintly.

            Kahl fixed hard eyes on him. "I am a damsel in distress and if you think for one moment I am going to let your ruin my-"

            Legolas suddenly rounded the bend in the path, a serene expression on his face.

            "My ankle!" she cried and at the same time, glaring at Glorfindel, she hissed, "Go away!"

            Legolas frowned at the two of them, hesitating.

            Glorfindel rose to his feet, looking down at Kahl in bemusement. Kahl swatted at his feet under the cover of reaching for help. "Oh, it hurts. It hurts, Glorfindel! Go get some help! I'll wait here!"

            The elf was hesitant as well, only now she saw a small glimmer of mischievousness in his eyes. "Well, of course you will," he said, glancing toward Legolas and suddenly smiling impishly. "I dare say you can't _go_ anywhere-"

            "Glorfindel!"

            "And off I go. Good day to you, Legolas! Please watch over Kahl as I resume my pleasant stroll." And with a direct glance at the hobbits hiding in the trees he continued his walk, vanishing moments later.

            "Are you all right?" as Legolas, and he came to stand before her, bending into a crouch.

            Kahl stared at him as stars exploded around him, blinding her until all she saw was white. She suddenly saw the two of them, running through a meadow, their hair flowing, laughing at everything, especially those stupid little mortals. Or under a full moon in each other's arms. Married and with dozens of children, each of them looking like him. Or her, if they were girls. 

            Or in bed, doing…things.

            "My lady," Legolas said, and it did not sound like the first time he had said it. She blinked, realizing she was blushing and for a moment she even worried she had drooled a bit. Swiping herself right quick, just in case, she nodded. "I am fine. Now. Thank you," she said quietly, and for a moment she questioned why she sat on the ground, in the middle of the Autumn Path.

            "You are fine? Did you fall?" he continued and he reached out slowly, hand closing around her ankle. "It doesn't seem too bad…"

            "Oh, it's bad. Believe me, the pain is…it's-"

            "Ah, now I remember," he murmured and he lifted his gaze back to her face, studying her for a moment. She stared back, eyes wide, and he smiled at her. "You were the maiden at the celebration held in the Hall of Fire," he answered.

            Kahl straightened, her own smile twitching a bit. "Eh?"

            Legolas' smile grew wider. "The girl Gandalf wanted me to shoot."

            Kahl could only smile back in stunned silence.

            Legolas nodded to himself, his hand massaging her ankle gently. "Was Narya ever returned to him? He did not seem happy to find it gone from his finger. Nearly sent out another Fellowship just to find it-"

            "Oh, dear, _my_, how your hands heal," Kahl suddenly said quickly and she practically yanked her ankle from his grip. "That's quite a talent you have there, good Elf. Quite a healing touch-" she flew to her feet and Legolas look up at her, his expression one of innocent confusion. She didn't bother returning the look. "Well, I really must be going now. Can't trust that Glorfindel for nothing. He'll probably leave me here to die from the pain-"

            "Are you certain?" Legolas asked, sitting back on his haunches. "I can easily bring you to Gandalf. I'm sure he has a few healing-"

            "No, no!" Kahl cried and she shook her hands at him. "I'm fine, thank you very kindly. But I must be on my way now." She backed away, fighting to keep her wavering smile. "Perhaps I will see you again?"

            Legolas nodded, his smile soft. "I hope so. Until then."

            She returned the nod and went off, practically flinging herself into the forest.

            Legolas was sure he heard another voice once she was gone but he merely rose to his feet, his smile growing once more, and with a song in his heart, he continued on the road.

Yeah, it did take me awhile and I've also pretty much taken over The Witch Child, which is more a pain in the ass since it's more detailed and yes, I am trying to keep up so please forgive me for being absent for so long. I don't know how long I can keep the stories going but I promise to try as hard as I can!

Thank you, though, to everyone who has left a review and emailed to inquire about the story! It means a lot!! 

Cass is now doing an Inuyasha fic (for all you anime fans), and I'm actually uploading another chapter in that now, for her since she's not in at the moment… =)

Hope you like the chapter!

-Aes


	5. Chapter Four

Chapter Four:

            She wanted to scream. For one moment, one that lasted for all of _eternity,_ she wanted to scream, scream, and continue to scream until she had scared away all the elves of Rivendell. Just screech like a banshee, or a Ringwraith, and send the locals running. But of course she wouldn't because it was unladylike to act in such a way. Or perhaps not so much unladylike, as _rude_. But then, the whole day had just been bad, from the failure of the Autumn Path trap to the unbelievably _evil_ surprise that had been waiting for her the moment she had returned home.

            "Well, I will say that he does seem to be a rather handsome one…" Elenuviel had murmured the moment she had entered their room. And upon seeing her disheveled sister she had paused, nose upturned. "Rolling in the mud again?"

            Kahl sighed inwardly as she plopped down on her sister's bed. "The soil, actually-"

            "Off my bed, you harpy!" 

            Kahl shot to her feet and silently trudged over to her own bed only to collapse once more in a heap onto her own bed. "Oh, Elen, what an absolutely horrid day…" and, as if only then hearing her sister, "Who is a rather handsome one?"

            Elenuviel turned away from the mirror, her golden hair floating through the air at her gesture. "My betrothed! I finally only today caught a good look of him and he is rather beautiful. Not so much as _me_, per say, but I can appreciate his face…" she shrugged cheerfully.

            Kahl blinked. "You…you saw him? Today? You spoke to him?" she stuttered, sitting up slowly.

            Her sister let out a giant sigh as she lifted the terrible pink brush to her hair and began to run it through the silken strands. "Kahl, really, we've had a talk about your words running together. You really _must_ learn to have the words in your head before speaking them. If you speak without thinking of them they run together and you sound like even more of a fool than usual-"

            "Did you or did you _not_ see him today?" Kahl screeched at her furiously.

            Elenuviel paused halfway through a combing. "Yes, you little twit! You really should listen, also, when I speak. I _did_ see him but I did _not_ speak to him. Imagine me, speaking to a lowly visiting elf, even if he _is_ my betrothed! I can't have that. That's downright insane. But he is a very pleasant thing to look at it-"

            Kahl flung herself back onto her bed, pulling her pillow up and over her eyes. "But you did not _speak _to him?" she asked succinctly.

            Her sister looked at her as if she was indeed a twit. "Kahelumien," she said in a threatening growl. "If you won't listen to half the words I say, do not _ask_ me anything!" And she whirled back around to face the mirror, brushing her hair viciously.

            "All I did was ask if you had _spoken_ to the elf-" Kahl grumbled, removing the pillow a bit and rising slightly.

            "And no!" Elen shrieked at her, whirling once more. A crimson blush rose in her pale cheeks and she flung the brush at her sister furiously. "I did not speak to him! We did not exchange words! I was merely going to visit Arwen and there he was, speaking with her. Of course I did not know at the time and he was so rude, speaking to Undomiel as if I weren't even there so when I finally announced that I was _indeed_ there he ran off." She shook her head. "At least he knows his place."

            _Yes, indeed. On a throne in Mirkwood…_

            Kahl picked up the brush where it had hit her square in the forehead and she massaged the small bruise absentmindedly. "So, what you are saying is, you did not even tell him who you were? Or that you were betrothed?"

            Elenuviel stared at her for a long time, her expression blank. And then, without another word she turned and strode out of the room, blond hair bouncing as haughtily as her frame. Kahl stared after her in silence, the brush clutched in her hand and she paused only for a moment after she heard the door to their room close behind her sister. Springing to her feet she placed the brush upon their dressed and immediately followed her sister's path, leaving the room.

            She needed to find Arwen. Now.

            "Arwen! Oh, Arwen!" she cried an hour later after finally finding the elven princess. Or the Queen now, of Man. She waved cheerfully at the woman and quickly hopped up, hands clasping demurely behind her back. "May I ask you a question, dearest Arwen?"

            "Of course you may," Arwen nodded graciously.

            Kahl hesitated before her, feigning shyness. "How long have you known Aragorn?" she asked.

            Arwen tilted her head at the strange question, face slowly frowning. "A few years now," she replied thoughtfully.

            "I see. And how long have you known Legolas?"

            Arwen paused again. "Quite a few years also…"

            "And in the entire time you've known the Prince of Mirkwood, has he ever married?"

            The elven princess shook her head. "No, not at all."

            "And in all the time that you've known the Prince and he has never married, has he ever fallen in love with an ugly, barbaric and stupidly annoying elf?" Kahl asked innocently.

            Arwen's eyebrows shot up into her hairline. "No, I can't say he has although quite honestly-"

            "Then what in _blazes_ does he see in Elenuviel?" Kahl suddenly shrieked, effectively bringing Arwen to a wide-eyed start. "Does he even _understand_ that she can quite easily kill him in his sleep? Does he not _understand?_ Does _anyone_ understand that my sister is dangerous and can not be allowed to _live?_"

            Arwen gazed at her as she screeched, her expression one of understanding. "You've seen Legolas, then?" she questioned with a gentle nod.

            With a sigh Kahl leaned forward and plopped her head on Arwen's shoulder. "Comfort me."

            The elven queen patted her on her head. "There, there, Kahelumien." And softly, she said, "If it makes you feel at all better, Legolas did not even know who she was. We were right here when she burst in on us and being such a sweet person he broke right off in the middle of his sentence to greet her and once I mentioned his name to her she practically went insane, ranting about how he was following her everywhere, _stalking_ her-"

            "I want him to stalk _me_…" Kahl murmured miserably.

            "Of course you do…"

            "But he doesn't even know I exist," Kahl whined. "Or maybe he does but he only knows me as that elven girl he nearly shot in the back the day of the celebration in the Hall of Fire."

            "The day of the mess with Narya?"

            "The same."

            "Poor Kahelumien…" Arwen patted her some more.

            Kahl sighed and sniffled. "But I only wish for him to see me as myself. I do not wish to be in my sister's shadow always. And he is such a sweet person, isn't he?"

            "Very sweet."

            "So, if I were to wish to speak to him, to meet with him, what should I say?" she asked, sounding as if she was ready to beg. She spoke into Arwen's shoulder, her voice coming out in muffled whines. 

            Arwen hesitated. "Tell him anything you want. He really is quite an easygoing person. And he's quite charming. Even if you bored him half to death he would treat you quite courteously." Arwen nodded reassuringly.

            Slowly, Kahl straightened, her eyes red and puffy. She sniffled once more, her eyes averted, and she said, "So, if I told him that my sister was half mortal, would he hate me for lying?"

            "Not at all," Arwen shook her head. "But I should warn you that he will find it strange that you speak of your sister with him when he doesn't even know they are properly betrothed. Perhaps it would be better to steer the conversation away from all that drivel and instead turn your conversation to other things. Things about yourself, your interests. But do not forget that he should not be listed as one of the things you are interested in. You will scare him off faster than your sister."

            Kahl nodded, taking in all the information. "And what should we talk about?" she asked with a small pout.

            Arwen paused, mulling over the question. "Talk about…the weather here in Rivendell."

            "It never changes…"Kahl murmured warily.

            "Or…" Arwen continued, "ask him about the Fellowship and the War of the Ring. I'm sure that will have the two of you talking for hours." She nodded, seemingly proud of herself at hr suggestion and she smiled cheerfully at Kahelumien.

            "Do you really think he will tell me everything about the One Ring?"

            Arwen nodded once more. "Especially now that you can't _steal_ the One Ring from anyone, it should all be fine. Just don't mention the fact that you were sent off to Lothlorien for trying to walk off with Vilya and Nenya."

            "You ruin all my fun, Arwen."

            The elven queen smiled tenderly at the girl. "I'm only trying to make sure you end up with the elf of your dreams."

            Kahl smiled at her, feeling light inside from her words and feeling the warmth her smile emanated. And after a moment she frowned. "We are talking about Legolas still, aren't we?"

            Arwen smiled sympathetically and walked off, leaving Kahl wondering if the sympathetic smile had been for Kahl or for Arwen herself.

Very small chapter, I know, but at the moment everything is a bit hectic (It's Christmas day!). But Cass ended up uploading a chapter in The Witch Child (which I've been co-writing) and I have had a bit of this chapter done for a while so I decided to upload also, trying to keep up..  ;) Hee…

Hope you all like the chapter! Tell me what you think!

-Aeslinn


	6. Chapter Five

Chapter Five:

            "Did you see the look on her face? When he recognized her?" Merry asked loudly and he burst into louder peals of laughter, striking the floor with his fist. Pippin flung himself onto the bed, hiding his face in her pillows to at least muffle his laughs.

            "Yes, it was all quite hilarious, thank you very much for laughing," Kahl fumed, hands on her hips stiffly. "Honestly, why did I even let you in? Now he knows me as the elven maiden he needed to shoot with an arrow." 

            "The arrow of _love_," Pippin sang into her pillow in between deep breaths of even more laughter.

            Kahl stormed around to the other side of the bed and yanked a single pillow free, causing him to pause for a moment. A second later she swung at him, catching him in the face. "It…isn't…funny!" she shrieked, punctuating each word with a pillow strike.

            "Hey! Ow…oh, my nose…ow-"

            "Have at thee, you tiny _monster_-"

            The door opened at that moment, in the other room, and Elenuviel entered slowly, her eyes wide and set in a frown. "What is going _on_ in here?" she asked in the faintest whisper and her face was pale with her anger. "I can hear the noise down the hall! Imagine my _humiliation_-" and she caught sight of the hobbit on her bed, his dingy clothes rubbing soil into the soft, quite white, blankets.

            "What is it and what is it doing on my _bed?!"_ she screamed bloody murder.

            Pippin instantly scrambled to his feet as Kahl calmly put the pillow down. "He's a hobbit," she replied simply.

            "I'm a hobbit," he echoed uncertainly.

            "I _know_ what-" she continued to scream at her sister before cutting off abruptly and looking Pippin in the eye. "I _know_ what you are. What are you doing here?" she asked, her voice lowering.

            "Well, there was this very funny predicament with Kahl-" Merry began for him and Elenuviel looked at him in disbelief, as if she hadn't seen him when she first entered.

            "Now, now, Merry, none of that-" Kahl quickly dove for him, muffling his mouth with her hand. "We can't have you spilling _all _my secrets-"

            Merry mumbled something under her hand and held up a chubby finger.

            "Not all, just one," Pippin translated helpfully.

            Elenuviel backed away slowly, the gesture causing the three of them to look at her. She held up a hand as she paused, as if trying to maintain the peace. "I am leaving now," she said to Kahl, "and when I come back I do not wish to find these…_hobbits_ in my room. Am I understood?" But then, forcing a wonderful smile directed at the hobbits, "It was very nice to meet you."

            And she spun and marched out, slamming the door in the other room behind herself.

            Kahl slowly straightened, her hand dropping away from Merry's mouth. "Wonderful. Just…wonderful," she sighed, shoulders falling limp. "I'm sure she's going _right now_ to tell Lord Elrond that I'm up to no good."

            "But we aren't! Up to no good. Or rather we are. Up to good…" Merry broke off, his face confused, and he looked at Merry. "Aren't we?"

            Kahl whimpered and went after her sister, slamming the door behind herself as well.

            And so, Merry and Pippin found themselves in Kahl's room, looking about in wonderment. It was a pretty room, very feminine with all the hobbit heads on the walls and the notches on the bedposts of Elen's bed. And it made Pippin think of days long passed when he has skipped through the meadows of the Shire, pausing here and there to pick flowers, in a purely _masculine_ manner, of course.

            He sighed inwardly.

            "Why are we here again?" asked Merry. And he suddenly gasped, running over to a small dresser and lifting something pink into his hand. 

            "The brush born of the flames of _Mordor!"_

            Pippin spared him a look. "Don't be silly. It's only a brush-" but the moment his eyes fell on it he also had a strange feeling of revulsion. But a certain pull as well. A pull to take it into his hands and comb his hair. Yes. Comb his hair, his wild curls…_straighten_ them…_over and over_…

            "Gah…" he shivered. "We should cast that thing into a fire and see if elvish writing pops up," he said with great difficulty. And he snatched it from Merry, took a step toward the balcony and tossed it off. Good riddance to it. Perhaps someone would come by and-

            A low yelp sounded below and casting a quick glance at Merry, Pippin hurried to the balcony.

            Directly below them was Legolas yet again, massaging his head, the brush lying at his feet.

            Merry burst into loud laughter once more, Pippin's face becoming apologetic. 

            The blond elf lifted his head, one eye closed in a grimace. "Pippin, if you wish to see me dead there are better ways to go about it," he quipped as he rubbed the spot.

            Pippin lifted a hand to his heart. "My friend, I apologize from the bottom of my heart," he said solemnly.

            With a sigh, Legolas stooped and picked up the brush. "It is fine, I assure you," he said, and he looked at the pink brush for a moment. "Eerie…" he murmured. And he lifted his head once more, looking up at the hobbits. "Actually, I was sent to look for someone. The elven maiden who lives in that very room. I do not suppose you know who she is?"

            Pippin glanced at Merry, wide-eyed.

            Merry hesitated for a moment and his eyes shifted to the other room suddenly, his breath catching. And then, "Come up," he said quickly, looking positively mischievous. And he instantly pulled away, taking hold of Pippin's arm and yanking him backward.

            "Merry, what-"

            With a finger to his lips Merry pulled Pippin back toward a large wardrobe as he grinned gleefully. He shoved Pippin into it, in between soft, fluffy gowns, following closely behind. Then he closed the doors and they stood in silence for a moment, Pippin confused.

            A second later he understood, however, as the door in the other room closed with a slam. "Faster and uglier than a ringwraith on his black steed…" Kahl murmured and they heard her moving about, clothes rustling. She entered the bedroom a moment later and Merry bent a bit to look out the keyhole of the wardrobe door.

            "Merry? Pippin?" she asked as she came into the room. She scanned it with a delicate frown, lips pouting. "Oh, it figures. Bet they caught a whiff of dinner…"

            Pippin glanced toward Merry quickly but they stood in darkness and his eyes hadn't yet adjusted.

            Beginning to hum to herself, Kahl lifted her hands to her hair and she took several locks, pausing before her dresser. She hesitated and scanned the dresser top. "Where is that brush now?" she murmured impatiently, searching the contents of the dresser and even moving a few things aside. "Did she come back when I wasn't looking? Oh, damn her to a bald-headed life. She probably kicked those hobbits out on their heads…Elen!" She glanced over her shoulder, shouting, "Elen! Are you here?"

            A polite knock sounded at the door and, looking thoroughly put off, Kahl went to answer it. "It's about bloody time, you horrid little half-men," she called grumpily as she opened the door.

            "Um…good evening. I was hoping to-" that was Legolas.

            "Eep!" That was Kahl once more and then came the definitive sounds of a door slamming shut and the possessed footsteps of a slight elven girl running for her immeasurably long life.

            "What's going on?" Pippin bent, trying to peek around Merry at the keyhole.

            Merry blanched in the darkness. "I…think she's coming…this w-" And the closet doors suddenly flew open as Kahl flung herself inside blindly, shutting the wardrobe doors behind her nimble figure.

            "Ow! Hey! Kahl! _Watch it-"_

            This time she let out a soul-ripping shriek that left the hobbits' ears not only muffled but also strangely ringing. She shrieked again. And again. And one more time for good measure before Merry clamped a hand over her mouth to silence her.

            "By the Shire…" Pippin gasped under the shrill sound of her muffled screaming. "What _cursed_ animal do you have dying in your _throat?!_"

            The door suddenly slammed open against the wall in the other room, causing the girl to halt in mid-squeal and they heard Legolas' voice. "Are you all right? Where are you?" he shouted, sounding positively alarmed.

            Merry and Pippin looked at each other in the darkness, Kahl trembling beside them. And as Legolas cautiously entered the bedroom with an uncertain, "Hello?" out they shoved her, instantly closing the wardrobe doors behind her.

            Kahl stumbled before Legolas, quickly righting herself as he looked at her, wide-eyed, his longbow in his hand and at the ready. She blinked at it, then at him, wordlessly, and then at the wardrobe quickly but the hobbits had wisely remained inside. 

            Legolas looked down at his longbow also and quickly put it away. "Oh, yes. You and the arrow in the back. Forgive me for that, it was Mithrandir's fault, really…" He straightened a moment later and continued, "I was sent. By the Lord Elrond. To look for…are you all right?" he asked her as color flushed her face and an embarrassed look followed. He scanned the room cautiously and his blue eyes returned to her as she spoke.

            "I…I am fine," she stuttered, and she cursed Elenuviel inwardly. She couldn't get a coherent sentence in her head, much less out of her mouth and why was Elenuviel always _right?!_ "You frightened me. I wasn't expecting-"

            "Of course," he said quickly and he suddenly looked apologetic. "I apologize, I assure you. The Lord Elrond has sent for you. I come only with those words but I feel I should also tell you what he wishes to speak to you about."

            His eyes were so blue, Kahl thought foolishly, melting. Bluer than the deepest seas, the darkest twilight and his hair, the sun spun into silk. His lips…

            She blinked.

            "My name is Legolas. Legolas Greenleaf of Mirkwood," he said.

            She nodded dumbly. Of course he was. His voice was deep and firm, yet soft. She could be content, always, if she could have that voice softly whisper in her hear eternally.

            "I am to be married to you. We are betrothed, rather, at the Lord Elrond's request, and I am to escort you to his Hall so that he may speak with us," he finished and he looked at her closely, no doubt waiting for her to take a nosedive for the floor. Or whine at least a little that she was too young to marry _anyone_.

            That was what Merry and Pippin waited for anyway.

            But a small smile rose on her lips, making her look quite lovely, now blushing with happiness. "Are you certain? Lord Elrond sent you?"

            He nodded, also smiling now. "Yes, he did. I did not know whether to escort you and allow him to tell you, and I did not know how you would take to the news, seeing as how you fled upon seeing my face…" his smile turned impish.

            And Kahl's smile vanished altogether, her eyes widening almost comically. "Oh, _no!_" she cried and she held up her hands, shaking them quickly. "I apologize, my Prince, I did not expect it to be you. I was expecting-"

            "The hobbits," he nodded and from his tunic he pulled forth her pink brush, examining it in his hand. "I do not think they take well to your brush. It _is_ yours, is it not? When last I spoke to them Merry had me convinced it was his… "

            Kahl took the brush from him with a strained smile and Merry was sure that if she had been one of the Istari her hair would have been sticking up on end from her built up anger and magic. "Oh, it is mine. They always seem to be _flinging_ it about…"

            He nodded once more, hands behind his back. But then a moment later he inched closer and held one arm out to her, inviting her. "If you will? I shall take you to the Lord Elrond." His smile was sincere now. Beautiful.

            She gazed at him and slowly slipped her arm through his. "It would be my honor," she replied, smiling into his handsome face and she allowed him to lead her.

            Merry and Pippin looked at each other in the darkness of the wardrobe, eyebrows lifted. "Mission accomplished," they agreed as one and Merry bent once more to look out the keyhole. Just as Legolas could be heard speaking from the other room.

            "Would it be improper to call you Elen?"

            A small pause. "I…beg your pardon?" Kahl stammered.

            "Elen. Or if you do not like that name I can call you by your full name. It _is_ pronounced Elenuviel, is it not?"

            And the hobbits had only a split second to duck and cover in the wardrobe before Kahl exploded into bloody screams once more.

LMAO! Man, am I mean or what???

Anyways, I thought I'd update this now, see how people take to it. I've updated a few times to the Witch Child (or rather both Cass and I have) but it hasn't gotten a response for a few chapters so I'm just wondering if anyone is even reading it. I figure if anything I'll wait til the end of January, until this Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers phenomenon has died down and not everyone is uploading as much because stories get lost and buried under others in the mad rush. So I probably won't send out another chapter of this nor Witch Child til then. And Witch Child is actually winding down now, too. I wrote quite a bit of it yesterday and I loved the way it's ending…

Anyways, hope you liked the chapter. ;)

-Aes

P.S. – Cass has her own website up with her fanfics (all NC-17!! Woo-hoo!) and I think I'm going to do the same and put up my fanfics at my own website. I'll have the web address on my profile if you want to check it out, but I will tell you now it is nowhere near completion and it will only have whatever I have written for Fanfiction.Net. So, look for that if you want, and if you want Cass' Hentai site (ROTFLMAO!) let me know! ;) Maybe I can convince her to do a Lord of the Rings NC-17 fic…with Legolas…hohoho…


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